Karlsruhe-based music producer Rezident, is making waves in the electronic music scene. At just 24 years old he’s quickly gaining recognition for his ability to interlock separate entities within electronic music, creating a sound that is both energizing and therapeutic. Influenced by the consistent flow of Deadmau5 during his upbringing, as well as drawing inspiration from progressive canons such as Bicep, Rezident is poised to make a big impact in 2023.
Rezident’s music bridges a unique gap between celebration and therapy, offering a truly unique listening experience. As he continues to evolve his sound and push the boundaries of electronic music, Rezident is quickly establishing himself as one of the most exciting producers in Germany’s southern Baden-Württemberg state. Whether it’s house, electro, techno, or dance music as a whole, Rezident has found a sweet spot where his tunes can be enjoyed on a hazy dance floor or received like a looping spiritual mantra.
We had a little chat with him about his musical background,
WWD: Hello, Welcome to When We Dip. Let’s quickly start with “Who Is Rezident?’
Rezident is the alias under which I’ve been making music since about 2017. I’ve had a couple other aliases before (just for random SoundCloud uploads), and I felt that at that time the sound started slowly coming together and it was time for a new name.
WWD: What was it that first got you into music, have you got a musical background?
My parents are both musicians (piano & cello) and my mom taught me a bit of piano when I was 6-8 years old. Sometimes I wish I wouldn’t have stopped at that age but with doing sports and school around that time, I wasn’t super motivated to keep learning to play piano.
Later I found my way back into electronic music, I remember listening to everything deadmau5 made and started watching YouTube tutorials and getting into music production. It was really fun because it felt like a video game – there were no specific rules and no ‘right’ way to do something.
WWD: You’re originally from Karlsruhe – Has moving and living in Berlin impacted your music career/creativity as a whole?
Yeah, I love spending time in Karlsruhe when I’m there but it’s a small city and I didn’t feel like moving back there after college. I decided to move to Berlin because of the vibrant music and creative scene. The summers are lovely here, there’s lots of great electronic music and cool events and clubs. There’s a lot of craziness going on in some parts of the city like ‘Friedrichshain’ where I live. When I’m stuck with a track I love getting a ‘Mate’ caffeinated drink at any corner at little stores called ‘Spätis’ and going for a walk.
There’s always someone playing music, beatboxing, or rapping at S Warschauer str or the tunnel before it, tons of people are passing through to the train, and it’s funny to see how some of them are just coming back from work while others are going out clubbing in a banana costume or something like that. There’s lots of things to draw inspiration from.
That said, the city has its downsides too – it is quite anonymous, the winters are rough, and at the moment it’s really hard to find an apartment or studio because of how many people are moving here.
WWD: You seem to be a lone wolf when it comes to collaborations with other artists, will this be changing in the near future?
I wouldn’t say I’m a lone wolf with collaborations haha. Making music on my laptop is just what I love doing, so naturally most of my tracks are my own productions.
That said, I’ve done a bunch of tracks with singers and I really enjoy doing that. There are also some tracks I co-wrote that just didn’t feel 100% right for my own profile. There might be some collaborations with other artists coming up as well, so keep an eye out for that!
WWD: Who would you most like to collaborate with?
I think I’d love working with someone in the same musical world but with a distinctively different sound. There are so many artists I love but three that come to my mind right now are Bonobo, Bicep, and Pional.
WWD: Your sound is described as a spiritual mantra, bridging a unique gap between celebration and therapy – Could you describe your creative process?
I make lots of little demos, each taking about 30min to 3h. They come at random times – It could be right after waking up or at 3 am in the night. Oftentimes I’m just trying out a new plugin or piece of gear or technique and suddenly a new Idea is there. This is by far the most fun part about making music for me. I think it’s because I’m free to do whatever I want at this stage and try out new things.
Whenever I do something I make sure to export it in whatever state it is and upload it to SoundCloud so I don’t forget about it. At the moment there are about 500 private uploads on my SoundCloud account. Most of them aren’t anything special, but then I revisit them together with my managers Nathan and John and we pick our favorites and put them in playlists.
Finishing those little ideas is the hardest part. I’m still trying to figure out how to make that easier. A lot of it is probably experience. I make sure to create a new filename version for each session so I can always go back and compare them.
Throughout the whole process I also keep listening to those tracks on my phone when I’m on the go. There are new things coming up I wouldn’t have noticed in the studio. I write them down and update that in the next revision when I’m back in the studio.
WWD: You’ve been producing from a young age, and have found inspiration in sounds such as a Nokia ringtone. Could you tell us a bit about that?
It wasn’t exactly the sound of the ringtone but I remember being really excited about being able to program the individual notes of the ringtone yourself. And then your own ringtone plays when someone calls you. This was in the pre-smartphone era btw. Unfortunately, this was my sister’s phone and not mine, but it stayed in my mind and I downloaded some music software for my PC a couple of years later.
WWD: How has your sound changed over the years? Do you feel as though it’s still evolving?
Absolutely, I think it’s evolving and I’m excited about the upcoming records that I’m working on right now.
WW: Who are your biggest influences in life and music?
In life it’s family and friends. In music, there’s a lot of artists that influence me. The biggest influence back in the day must have been deadmau5, but nowadays there’s a lot more artists I love listening to.
I have a ‘Rezident Selection’ playlist on Spotify with my favorites from the electronic music world. And besides that I also draw inspiration from other genres like indie music.
WWD: Any more shows perhaps in Berlin coming up in the pipeline?
Not in Berlin, but there’s a couple different upcoming shows in other countries. A couple of them are: Anjunadeep Explorations in Albania, Luminosity Festival in the Netherlands, Luttrell Support in the States
WWD: What’s next for Rezident?
I’m keen on getting a bunch of new music done. The demos are there already and some of them I’m already playing in my DJ Sets. There should be a couple new EP’s and remixes coming this year!